Renters United congratulates the Green Party, The Opportunities Party and the Labour Party for agreeing to address rental affordability within their first 100 days should they form the next government, this Saturday at the Renters United Rally for Fair Rent Now.
Renters United and supporters gathered in Cobblestone Park, downtown Wellington, to present their “Fair Rent Now” open letter signed by more than 2,000 people to politicians, calling for immediate action on runaway rental prices. Co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw, Leader of The Opportunities Party, Geoff Simmons and Labour’s Associate Minister of Housing, Kris Faafoi, addressed the crowd.
“Politicians have so far been unwilling to tackle the problem of rent prices directly. However, we are now more hopeful, with the commitment from the Labour Party, Green Party and The Opportunities Party, that we could see the next government addressing the crisis of rent affordability,” said Renters United’s Organiser, Ashok Jacob.
“We are disappointed that the National Party, Act Party and New Zealand First have declined or ignored our requests to engage every step of the way. As renters go to the polls, we encourage them to consider which parties will advocate for the needs of the more than 2 million renters in Aotearoa, and urge them to use their vote to make sure the next government represents their needs,” said Jacob.
The Fair Rent Now open letter calls for tens of thousands of new homes to be built by state, council and community providers. It also calls for tens of thousands of new for-purchase homes, as the unaffordable price of rent is also preventing renters from being able to save enough to own their own home.
The letter says that policies to address the cost of rent need to be implemented, and renters need to be guaranteed more security from profiteering landlords. It calls for a limit on rent increases to no more than inflation, and regulation on the price of rent for new rentals based on the median in the area.
How about increasing wages and job security for renters in NZ so that not only can they afford rents, but also be in a position to buy a house going forward. Hard to see that happening when ‘affordable housing’ for Kiwibuild families seems to cost over $600,000 to buy (when the land is free from the state included in the price), and is on a tiny section.
The state houses and private rentals of old with decent gardens and free sunshine with room for kids to play also had much lower maintenance charges because they were well made with real products and not high rise developments that require lifts, scaffolding and multimillion dollar remedial fees every decade!
Stop selling our land to developers! Keep the land and lease it back via a community trust. Argggh.
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